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Marcus Freeman Was 'Angry' At James Franklin Heading Into Orange Bowl

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Jan 10, 2025 12:03 PM ET

Fresh off the biggest win of his career and the biggest win for Notre Dame in over a decade, head coach Marcus Freeman has been the talk of the college football world for the remarkable job he's done in returning the program to national title contention.

But while Freeman was all smiles and respectful after his team's Orange Bowl win over Penn State, he reportedly "angry" at Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin behind the scenes.

Speaking to The Athletic, Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts used that exact word to describe Freeman in the wake of a joint press conference he had with Franklin. While it's not clear exactly what Freeman was angry about, it was likely either the comment that Franklin made complimenting his hairline or Franklin declaring that Notre Dame should play in a conference.

Either way, Freeman wasn't happy and the players made sure to transfer that anger into their play.

"He was angry. He was angry with the press conference thing, whatever was going on between that," Watts told The Athletic's Pete Sampson. "He was mad about that. All the anger went toward us and that anger went onto the field."

“He’s not that young guy that a lot of people treat him as. Guys want to play for coach Freeman, and when you put gas on that fire, it can get really explosive in this locker room.”

How Marcus Freeman found extra fuel to beat Penn St. And burned it all. https://t.co/LOSKwXgDor
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) January 10, 2025

Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love similarly said that the team felt disrespected by Penn State. With that disrespect in mind, he said that the team wanted to "make a statement" and "be the aggressors" against the Nittany Lions.

"I’m not gonna speak on their head coach, but we felt like their team didn’t really respect us,” Love said. "We wanted to come into this game and make a statement. Be the aggressors. Dominate them physically. That’s the message. Be physical and play violent. The whole game."

Mission accomplished.

After the game, Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard said that Freeman's halftime message when the team was trailing 10-3 lit a fire under them as he declared that "History is written by conquerors."

"He said ‘History is written by conquerors, and we’re holding the pen,’” Quarterback Riley Leonard said after the game. "We decide how we want to write our history. I am a firm believer in whether you think you can, or you can’t do something, you’re right. We believed that we could do it, and we went out there and did it."

In 10 days, Notre Dame will get their chance to truly etch their names into history.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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